


A World More Full of Weeping

by st_mick



Series: Niffler [53]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Torchwood
Genre: Bastard faeries, Developing Friendship, Episode: s01e05 Small Worlds, Revenge for Estelle, Wizard Ianto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 22:54:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21260963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_mick/pseuds/st_mick
Summary: Ianto recognizes the fae when they show up.  He gets permission to carry his wand so he can ward the hub, but takes advantage of the wording of Kingsley's order to ward Torchwood.  The fae don't appreciate his interference, particularly when he decides to bind them for murdering Estelle Cole.





	A World More Full of Weeping

Ianto’s newly improved mood tanked again the first week of March as news reached them of another Torchwood One suicide and another wave of grief hit him. To their credit, the team noticed immediately when Ianto stopped eating and sleeping again, and they each attempted to help, in their own way.

It was the eighth of March, and he was in the hub well before four in the morning, assuming that Jack was out on the pull or standing on a rooftop, somewhere. He worked in the archives for a while, and then went up to the hub to work on a supply order for Flat Holm. An alert came through, and he sent some of the information to the printer, to show the team, later. 

He was surprised when he ran into Jack, just outside of his office. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” Jack said, trying to shake off his surprise.

Ianto watched Jack shove what looked like a flower petal into his pocket. He gave the older man a tentative look. “Neither should you.”

Jack followed him down to Toshiko’s desk. “What have you got?” He placed his hand on Ianto’s back as he spoke.

The younger man turned sharply to look at Jack’s hand, but did not move away, so Jack left it where it was. After a beat, Ianto drew in a deep breath and straightened, leaning in to Jack’s touch as he answered. “Funny sort of weather patterns.” 

Jack gave Ianto’s back a pat and moved his hand, feeling a small thrill of triumph at getting a reaction, even if it was merely an instinctual reaching out for the warmth of contact.

Ianto shivered. He felt as though something was watching them. He glanced at Jack, who looked spooked, as well. “How about I go get you something to eat?”

Jack considered Ianto, who looked exhausted. “Only if you eat, as well.”

Ianto blinked. He hadn’t been very hungry, lately. He nodded, though. If that got Jack to eat, he’d do it. “Okay.”

“Great. I’ll go shower.”

As Jack moved away, Ianto heard the flutter of wings and a whisper of laughter. “This place is protected,” he growled, realizing what their guests were. “You will not violate these wards any further than you already have.”

More laughter.

Ianto sprinted to the Green Dragon, and went directly to the Ministry. Luckily, Kingsley liked to arrive at ungodly hours to get through his administrative work. He looked up as Ianto burst into his office. “Ianto?”

“It’s the Fae, Sir. Please, may I use my wand, to strengthen the wards on the hub? I think they may have some history with Jack. They’ve already left a petal on his desk.”

Kingsley frowned. “That is serious.” He sighed. “One day. Ward Torchwood, and then return your wand to its place.”

“Sir,” Ianto turned, but then hesitated.

“Anything else?”

_Yes_. Ianto drew in a breath. “I’d like to request permission to carry my wand, Sir.”

“Denied,” Kingsley forced his tone to be hard. Inside, he was cringing. He knew it was cruel to divide a wizard from his magic in this way.

“Understood, Sir,” Ianto’s face was a mask, but his eyes were sparking with anger and frustration. He walked to the door, but then he turned back, again. “You know, someday something is going to happen. Something that my magic can prevent. I hope you’ll be able to live with the blood that will be on your hands, Sir. Because I won’t.”

Kingsley stood to follow him, but could not bring himself to go after the younger man. If only Ianto would _remember_. So many things had already happened, that Ianto’s magic could have prevented. But it was just too much of a risk. He ran a hand over his face and sat back down, his morning soured by the warning from his Auror.

He was worried. Ianto was barely holding on. And Kingsley believed him. If something happened that Ianto’s magic could prevent, the young Auror would very likely be unable to cope with it. He was barely able to cope with surviving Canary Wharf, when so many others did not.

He prayed to all that was sacred that Ianto would remember, so he could be released from this thing that was keeping him from his magic.

***

Ianto found someone who could apparate him home, then he grabbed his wand and some supplies and headed back to the Green Dragon. From there, he bought breakfast and headed back to the hub. He and Jack ate – well, Jack ate. Ianto picked at his breakfast as they drank coffee and chatted.

Ianto smudged and warded the hub within an inch of its existence. He then begged, badgered, and cajoled everyone, trying to convince them to stay at the hub until the case was over (and the Chosen One had been taken). It was tough going, because he could not tell them why it was best for them to stay.

When he failed to convince any of them, he went home. He found a rose petal on the landing outside his door. He spent the next hour warding his flat, remembering the adage that you secure your own face mask, first; after all, if someone was meddling with his place it could weaken his magic. 

As he was finishing, he looked out of the window and saw one of the Fae, holding a terrified Cerridwen under its arm and pointing up. Ianto apparated to the roof, shouting, “Let go of my owl! Since when do you harm the innocent?”

“We have not harmed her, Wizard,” the ugly being answered. “We come with a warning. You are not to interfere with our taking the Chosen One.”

“I have no intention of interfering,” Ianto said hotly. “If the child has been identified, it’s already too late.”

“Yes, but those you would protect seek to stop us.”

“They don’t understand. They know nothing of you or your ways. And it doesn’t help that you antagonize them.” Ianto was facing down the Fae on sheer grit, and he wasn’t sure he had enough to stand up to them, for long.

“They seek to stop us.”

“But they will not succeed,” he growled. “So stop winding them up and making them more determined to try. Unless you _want_ to have blood on your hands.” That would not surprise him.

“They seek to stop us. The smart one and the mean one and the stroppy one and the undying one. Perhaps we should stop them, first.”

They began cackling and swarming around him. He saw with relief that they had let Cerridwen go. Before he could apparate away from them, he felt something filling his lungs. He turned on the spot and collapsed in Draco’s lab, thankful that his friend was working late, as usual.

“Nif!” Draco rushed to his side.

Ianto spat flower petals, but there were too many already in his airway.

“Fucking faeries!” Draco shouted, working on clearing his friend’s lungs.

Ianto passed out for a few minutes, but when he came to, he could breathe again. Draco gave him a potion to soothe his lungs and told him to lie down.

“Can’t. They threatened the others,” Ianto stood, swaying.

“Damn it, Ianto,” Draco huffed. Then he nodded. “Okay, but come back for more potion. I’ll prepare a course for you.” He then told Ianto a spell to use, should he find himself with another lungful of rose petals. “If you clear them out right away, it does a lot less damage.” He helped Ianto to his feet. “Please be careful. The Fae are dangerous.”

Ianto nodded and disapparated to Toshiko’s house. He warded the place as best he could without going inside, and was swarmed by the Fae again as he finished. The same thing happened at Owen’s. By the time he got to Gwen’s, her flat had already been trashed. He was almost relieved; he didn’t think he could withstand a fourth lungful of rose petals.

He went home to shower and change and drink some of Draco’s potion before heading to the hub. It was there that he heard about Jack’s friend Estelle. He could see that Jack was devastated, and it brought up his own grief. He set a coffee in front of Jack and placed a hand on the older man’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze and leaving it there for a beat longer than could be deemed professional.

Jack reached up and placed his hand over Ianto’s, holding on as he held back the tears. 

“I’m sorry for your loss, Jack,” Ianto spoke in a low voice, and Jack broke.

His arms went around Ianto’s waist, and Ianto stood awkwardly as Jack sobbed into his shirt. He ran his hands through Jack’s hair, making comforting sounds as the older man held on to him and wept.

After a while, Jack calmed. “Ianto,” he said, his voice ragged, “could you…”

“I’ll take care of it, Jack,” he assured him. “Leave it with me. I’ll make the arrangements.”

“She had a cat. Moses.”

“I’ll see to Moses, as well.”

Jack nodded, then disappeared into his bunker to change. Ianto looked at the time logs and saw that the attack on Estelle happened as he was collapsing in Draco’s lab. He could not have anticipated or prevented it. It was cold comfort, but at least he did not have to bear that burden.

But it made no sense to him. Estelle had been an innocent. In harming her, the Fae had broken one of their own compacts. When the team left to check out another weather anomaly, he apparated to the Ministry to ask Luna about the compacts. She quickly showed him some references, and as he read through, an idea formed.

“Ianto, I do not like that look,” Luna said, her voice concerned.

“Jones, I thought I told you to ward the hub and return your wand to where it belongs,” Kingsley stood over them.

Ianto stood to face the Minister, his finger holding his place in the book. “You told me to ward Torchwood, Sir. The wards on our homes have taken a bit longer than anticipated,” Ianto said. “And I was delayed when the Fae stuffed my lungs with rose petals,” he added. “_Three times._”

Luna gasped, and Kingsley’s eyes widened. “Are you all right?”

“I will put my wand away like a good little dog as soon as I have some assurance that they pose no further threat to my team.” His eyes flashed and he added grudgingly, “Sir.”

Kingsley did not even know where to begin to parse out all of the telling bits from that one statement. How Ianto truly felt about being divided from his magic, who fell under his protection, who his people were, now. As Ianto stalked away, the Minister turned to Luna. “Any luck figuring out a way to help him remember?”

“Still looking,” she shook her head sadly.

***

Ianto apparated to Estelle’s just as the Fae were taking Jasmine from Jack and the rest of the team. He used one of the spells from the book Luna had loaned him to summon the Fae to this spot, where they had murdered an innocent. They appeared, hissing and snarling at him. Jasmine Pearce was with them, not yet transformed, but snarling along with them.

“What do you want, Wizard?”

“I stand here, where an innocent life was taken, and I bear witness to how you have broken your own compact,” Ianto said, his voice strong.

The hissing and snarling increased.

“I bear witness,” Ianto was pleased his voice was not shaking, “and I condemn your actions. The Fae do not harm the innocent. That is an accord of your own making. You have broken it, and I condemn you.” He spat out the petals that suddenly appeared in his mouth. “I curse and condemn you for taking the life of Estelle Cole!” he shouted.

He spat more flowers, then opened the book. He began the incantation, coughing up petals as he recited it. When he finished, he used Draco’s spell to clear his lungs. “For breaking your own compacts, I condemn you. In the name of Estelle Cole, I bind you. You will not have access to another Chosen One for the duration of my binding.”

“What care we for your binding, Wizard? Your life will be but a blink, compared to our existence.”

“You should have more respect for what you declare to be sacred to you,” Ianto scolded. He gripped his wand, drew on his magic, and repeated the incantation. The air shivered and the Fae snarled. “I condemn you, and I bind you. You will harm no more innocents.”

They came after him again. No surprise, really. Only they were filling his lungs faster than he could empty them. He was relieved, really. He stopped fighting them, but then they stopped swarming and went quiet. Ianto gave a great gasp as his lungs were completely cleared. Harry, Luna, and Hermione stepped up beside him.

Luna spoke, her voice low and clear. “You have been condemned and bound. You will leave now, or face the consequences of breaking even more compacts.”

“We will not be bound!” one of the Fae screeched.

“You have already been bound,” she replied. “You have brought this upon yourselves. You have become careless in your cruelty, and you harmed an innocent. Now you shall face the consequence of your actions, and perhaps in future you will have more respect for the innocents you claim to cherish and protect.”

Harry and Hermione were shielding them from the Fae, who were now beginning to feel the effects of the powerful binding spell Ianto had woven. As the spell locked in place, they stopped trying to attack. At last, they seemed to come to regret their actions. “We shall go,” they stated, subdued.

“Go in peace. We hope to enjoy renewed compacts with you, in future,” Luna bowed to them formally.

The Fae bowed in return and disappeared.

Ianto found Moses, who quickly attached himself to Luna. The love at first sight was mutual, and she quickly took him to her flat while Harry and Hermione took Ianto home. They were still giving him hell for undertaking the binding on his own when Luna rejoined them.

“How did you find me?”

“Luna saw,” Hermione frowned at him. “Ianto, what were you thinking?”

Ianto shrugged and sipped on more of the potion from Draco. “The book said that one witch or wizard could do the incantation.”

“But you went in unprotected!” she exclaimed.

“I figured the binding would…”

“Did you?”

Ianto blinked. “What?”

“Did you think the binding would keep you safe, or did you just not care?”

“Why would I bind them for my lifetime and then just give it up to them? How would that have served my purpose?” Ianto was pink to the ears, because he could clearly see what the others did – his conscious and unconscious intentions had been operating at cross-purposes. 

But he could barely admit that to himself. He certainly wasn’t going to admit it to his friends. “I wanted them to pay for killing Estelle Cole. How could I have made that happen, if I was okay with them killing me?”

“I think you didn’t think either plan through.” Hermione huffed. “Damn it, Ianto. They would have killed you!”

“I know,” he replied quietly. “Thank you for coming to help.”

After a bit more scolding, Harry and Hermione hugged him goodbye and disapparated. Luna took him to the archives and left him, letting a worried look linger on him as she left. As Ianto headed to the main level of the hub, he saw the others leaving, their faces angry.

“Toshiko?”

“Did you hear? He just gave that little girl to them,” she seethed. She showed him the footage from the disaster at the house. “You were right all along, Ianto.”

“No, I was wrong. And so are you,” he replied gently. It surprised her enough that she just stared at him, for a moment. He took the opening. “If the Fae had not been given their Chosen One, they would have ended the world. She was lost from the moment they chose her, so Jack allowed her to go home, thus saving the world. It’s unthinkable to you, because it was a cute little girl.” 

He winced. “But think of that same story, with different players. The Cybermen would have ended the world. She was lost from the moment the conversion began, so Jack ordered her death, thus saving the world. But it was _not_ unthinkable to you, because she was encased in metal.”

Tosh looked horrified. “It’s not the same thing at all!” she protested.

“It is _exactly_ the same thing,” Ianto replied hotly. “And in both cases, he made the right call. You really think that little girl was still an innocent child? _Look_ at her, Tosh! She’s smiling as her step-father is murdered. That child she used to be was already gone.”

Toshiko looked at the screen where Ianto was pointing, her brow knit. 

“What else was he meant to do, with the Fae threatening the planet? Tosh, you don’t understand their power. There is almost nothing here that can stop them.”

“How do you know so much about them?”

“I know what you know. They got to that man in a locked cell. They can affect weather patterns that can kill. _They_ can kill, at a whim. They are dangerous and capricious, and we are well shut of them.”

“But…”

“Look at her face, Tosh,” he said. Then he pulled up a still of Jack after handing Jasmine over. “And now look at his.”

Tosh began to cry. He held her for a moment before speaking again. “This is Jack,” he said quietly. “He makes the hard decisions, and yes, sometimes they feel incredibly cruel. But it’s always for the safety of the planet. And it would be foolish to think it doesn’t hurt him, to have to make those decisions.” He turned to the monitor again. “_Look_ at him.”

Tosh nodded, tears still falling. “Thank you, Ianto. You’re right. But I need to get out of here. This job, sometimes…” Then her eyes went wide. “Oh, Ianto. For you to be the one to understand this…”

“Guess I learned my lesson well,” he joked, but Toshiko didn’t find it the least bit funny.

“I’m sorry you had to draw that parallel, Ianto.” She swiped at her tears. “Sometimes I wonder why you don’t hate us all.”

“What would that serve?” he shrugged. “I know you didn’t kill Lisa. It wasn’t Lisa, by then. I just…” he sighed. “I went a bit mad, I suppose. I just couldn’t stop fighting, even though deep down, I knew it was over.” He looked up to see if Jack was in his office. “I suppose part of me halfway hoped that if I kept fighting, I could die with her.”

“Oh, Ianto,” Tosh began crying again, for an entirely different reason. She threw her arms around his neck and held on. Once the storm passed, he let her make her escape. He went to brew some coffee, bringing out his best beans that he reserved for special occasions and really bad days.

***

Ianto carried two mugs of coffee up to Jack’s office, hoping his presence would not be unwelcome. He knocked on the door.

“Come in, Ianto,” Jack said wearily. He was sat at his desk with the decanter of brandy and a glass sitting before him. To Ianto’s keen eye, it looked as though Jack had drunk quite a bit, already.

He set the tray down and picked up the decanter, putting it in its place and replacing the stopper. He then turned and took the glass from Jack’s hand and drank the last of the brandy in it before placing the coffee mug in the older man’s hand. Almost as an afterthought, he sat on the edge of the desk, facing Jack and waiting for him to say something.

Jack could not have said whether he was amused, annoyed, or just so tired of it all that he wanted to shoot himself in the head, if only for a few moments’ relief. But the pain of coming back would negate any peace derived, and he did not want to do such a thing to Ianto. The younger man had already seen far too much.

“Saw you talking to Toshiko,” he chose to say, instead. “Guess she told you I’m every bit the monster you thought I was.”

Ianto looked pained. “I thought you believed me when I told you I never meant that. You’re not a monster, Jack.” He reached out and put his hand under the mug, gently helping Jack to lift it to take a sip. “Yes, I know what happened, and no, Tosh was not telling me anything. I was telling her a few things, actually.” At Jack’s curious expression, he quickly added, “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you did the right thing. Not that you need me to tell you that.”

“How can you say that? I just gave that little girl up to those… _things_.”

“Because I know about the Fae, Jack. I know she was lost from the moment she was chosen. And I know that you made the only call you could make that would leave this world intact.”

Jack blinked. “How do you know about… what did you call them?”

“The Fae,” Ianto said. “I’ve run across information about them, before.”

“In the archive at One,” Jack nodded to himself. “I wish you’d said.”

“I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t think…”

“That we’d believe you,” Jack sighed, shaking his head. “I haven’t done a very good job of making you a proper part of the team, have I?”

“It’s fine, Sir.”

“I suppose that’s why you wanted everyone to stay here at the hub,” Jack looked up. “What made you think it would be any safer here?”

Ianto shrugged. He could not answer that honestly, so he chose not to answer at all.

Jack sipped his coffee again, and hummed. “Broke out the good stuff for me, I see.”

Ianto shrugged again. “It was that or the Christmas blend Gwen gave me.” A small smile teased his lips. “I took a chance.”

Jack chuckled, then his face fell. “Sometimes I hate my life,” he muttered.

“Try not to lose sight of the good you do, Jack.”

Jack snorted. “At what cost?”

Ianto shrugged. “To my mind, she was no longer Jasmine Pearce.” He held up a hand as Jack made to protest. “Go back and look at the video that was captured by one of the guests on their mobile. Look at her face and tell me she’s not more Fae than child, smiling as her step-father is brutally murdered.” He huffed. “You let her go home, with those that are her own, now.”

Jack stared at Ianto for a long moment. “You really believe that.”

“I know it.”

“How are you so sure?” Jack looked confused.

“I tend to retain what I take in,” Ianto said, and he frowned at the layers of truth in that statement. He had not read about the Fae at One, but he was obliged to allow Jack to think that. He had actually learned about them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. They were not, strictly speaking, dark creatures, but they were dangerous enough to be included in the basic defense classes.

Jack was leaned back in his chair, staring at his archivist. He had the feeling that there was something the younger man was holding back, but he couldn’t fathom what that might be. What he did know was that Ianto was defending the actions of a man he’d once called a monster. Jack knew Ianto had regretted the barb, but Jack still very much felt the truth of it.

As he did so often, Ianto seemed to know what Jack was thinking. He reached out and grasped Jack’s shoulder. “You’re no monster, Jack. I’ve seen enough of them to know.”

Jack put his hand over Ianto’s and squeezed. “Thank you.” Then he frowned. “Why are you shaking?”

Ianto realized his hands were shaking, and now he needed to come up with a reason that didn’t involve admitting that the Fae had spent the better part of the last twenty-four hours shoving rose petals down his throat. “Need to eat something,” he said, knowing it would get him fussed over, but it was the safest answer.

Jack stood. “How about we try that new café that just opened on the Plass? My treat…”

Ianto felt terrible and would have balked, except for the hopeful look in Jack’s eye. In the last day, the older man had lost someone dear to him and had faced a cruel choice. The least Ianto could do was share a meal with him. 

He gave a small smile. “All right.” 

He stood from the desk, and was surprised when Jack pulled him into a close embrace. Once again he was swamped by Jack’s pheromones as their arms automatically wound around one another. Jack pressed his face against Ianto’s neck and whispered, “Thank you, Ianto.”

Ianto held onto Jack until the older man was ready to pull out of the embrace. Jack leaned back, his eyes looking concerned. “You smell of roses,” he said, his voice full of dread.

“I visited Estelle’s, to pick up Moses. There were petals everywhere.”

Not precisely a lie…

Jack continued to frown. “You sound like you’re coming down with a cold.

“Just a tickle. I’ll take a tisane before bed.”

“Promise you’ll sleep tonight.”

“Can’t.” Ianto shrugged. He turned away, picking up Jack’s greatcoat and holding it for the older man.

“Why not?”

“Sleep can be elusive. I can go to bed and try to sleep, but either insomnia or nightmares may thwart my efforts.” He smoothed the coat over Jack’s shoulders.

Jack turned back to him. “Promise you’ll try, then.”

Ianto gave a small smile. “Promise.”

Jack leaned in and embraced Ianto again. When he released the younger man, he smiled. “Thank you.”

“Any time, Jack.”

***

**Author's Note:**

> The refrain "Come away, O human child!" is from W.B. Yeats' poem "The Stolen Child". Another line from the poem is, "For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand." It inspired the title of this work.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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